They were told to “Stop at nothing” when blanketing the city to promote the “Kony 2012” campaign, but some activists crossed the line over the weekend when they spray-painted messages on memorials in the Hub.
Urged by the non-profit Invisible Children, who launched a controversial 30-minute viral documentary about African warlord Joseph Kony earlier this year, groups of advocates hit the streets on Friday, April 20, slapping stickers on T stops and plastering “Kony 2012” posters all over Boston.
Amidst the movement to raise awareness about the “Kony 2012” campaign, some of the city’s longstanding memorials were defaced with red spray paint.
On Boston Common, “Kony 2012” was scrawled across the front of the Boston Massacre memorial.
City officials said they will work with police and the Graffiti Busters program to remove the paint.
“And I am sure police will be looking into the circumstances around it,” said Dot Joyce, spokeswoman from Mayor Thomas Menino’s office.
A Facebook group called “COVER THE NIGHT BOSTON,” which has more than 2,000 likes and attendees, called on Hub activists to “[donate] their time and money to putting posters, stickers, and flyers all over the major cities of the world” on Friday.
Those who joined took pictures of the fliers, stickers and posters placed around Boston and uploaded them to the Facebook fan page.
Invisible Children posted a video on their website and YouTube page, asking participants to take action on Friday, and “Stop at nothing” to bring attention to the national movement.
“We will do much more than create awareness. We will advocate globally, we will serve locally, and we will turn this digital revolution into a physical one when we hit the streets,” the promoters wrote on their site.
[View the story “#KONY2012 campaign leads to graffiti” on Storify]
